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Spielburg Pass
300px|thumb Spielburg Pass is the main road into and out of Spielburg Valley. (QFG2):If I had not fought off so many in the battle in Spielburg Pass, perhaps you would not have made it through the brigand lair, my friend. Background The pass is the only means by which the average traveler can enter Spielburg Valley. Leaving by any other means would require flight, magic, or an extraordinary strength and constitution for crossing the mountains. Some time before the events of Quest for Glory I, Abdulla Doo used the pass to enter the valley and was attacked there by the local brigands, losing all of his merchandise. It would seem that, during the winter, the pass is frequently subjected to snow, landslides, and avalanches coming down from the mountains. Shortly after the Hero arrived in the valley via the pass, such a landslide blocked the road, effectively trapping him in the valley. The pass was likely cleared shortly after the events of Quest for Glory I. Geography Spielburg Pass lies between the Barony of Spielburg and region of Willowsby. It also be used to reach southern lands, for travelers trying to reach the Med Sea (Silmaria) or the Middle East (Shapeir Desert) The Pass is subject to blizzards and storms, which makes travels rough. It can take two or more weeks to cross, and often about a month to reach Spielburg from Willowsby. The region nearer to Willowsby is fairly remote, barren and exposed to the elements. Travelers are best to be prepared, or they will be stuck having to forage for food along their way. There is a cave high on a rocky ledge in this region that can be used for shelter from the storms. Often the pass was blocked by snowdrifts or by the remains of early avalanches, in particular during the late winter. Cold peaks rise above, and only cold sunshine reaches the narrow mountain pass. As it gets closer to spring, the snow melts into a shallow mix of ice chunks and mud. The muck makes travel difficult, as the slushy footfalls become heavier. In the pass near the edge of Spielburg, lies a stretch of dense forest, where only weakening rays of the sun penetrate the thick trees, only to wither to an opaque gloom. There is a large flat rock shelf and crevice set deep in the mountainside nearby the forest, where travelers can rest before continuing into the woods on the final stretch to reach Spielburg. The road continues passing under the shadows of giant trees, with only occasional errant patches of sunlight passing through. The road turns into a narrow path, leading out of the forest. An ancient oak lies where the forest opens up to the sky, overlooking the valley below. See also *Nordhoff Pass Behind the scenes *The proper name Spielburg Pass is mentioned in a single line in Quest for Glory II. *The pass is featured mainly in backstory for Quest for Glory I, and the Prologue in Quest for Glory: The Authorized Strategy Guide. *According to the guide, the sign seen on a tree in the title screen in Quest For Glory 1 and the remake is actually a shot of the end of the pass from top of the mountain's rise leading into the valley. *The title screen image in QFG1 takes a few liberties as far as layout of locations. In the actual map of the game the road travels west directly to the gates of village, with a road that turns north to the castle (you would not be able to see the castle from the road, unless you were in the pass high above looking down into the village, but the castle would actually appear to the right of the town from that position). In the title screen image, it seems that the road views straight to the castle, but with the road splitting towards the village half way (traveling east this would actually place the castle in the west, and village to the south). Granted the road is a little more wavy and crooked in the title screen than the road is on the actual map, and this could be presenting a slight optical illusion and depend on the angle one is viewing into the valley from the mountain above (technically the castle does appear slightly to the right of the castle). Note: The title screen image can't be an image looking from the south either, as in-game the road only travels 'east to west', with one fork going north at the gate of the village (the south has no visible road, but just forest grass). References Category:Places (QFG1) Category:Places (QFG2)